Aaron Koblin: Artfully visualizing our humanity

The Power of Data in Storytelling

In this section, the speaker discusses how data can enhance storytelling and shape our lives in the 21st century.

Data as a Medium for Storytelling

• Data collection and analysis enable us to tell compelling stories about our lives.

• The 19th century was defined by novels, the 20th century by cinema, and the 21st century will be defined by interfaces.

• Our lives are driven by data, and presenting that data through interfaces allows us to create impactful narratives.

Flight Patterns Visualization

The speaker presents a project called Flight Patterns that visualizes airplane traffic over North America.

Flight Patterns Visualization

• Flight Patterns is a project showcasing airplane traffic over North America during a 24-hour period.

• The visualization demonstrates the movement of planes from different regions, such as red-eye flights from the West coast to the East coast.

• It provides insights into the scale and dynamics of air traffic control systems.

Visualizing Airplane Traffic Data

The speaker explores different visualizations of airplane traffic data using color-coded representations.

Color-Coded Airplane Traffic Visualization

• Time-lapse images of airplane traffic data are color-coded to represent different types of aircraft.

• By zooming in on specific airports, patterns and activities can be observed.

• Altitude, model, manufacturer, and other parameters can be toggled for further exploration.

Exploring Different Parameters in Airplane Traffic Data

The speaker examines various parameters within airplane traffic data visualization.

Exploring Parameters in Airplane Traffic Data

• Different parameters such as ascending versus descending flights can be analyzed.

• Holding patterns and changes in airport directions can be observed over time.

Visualizing International Communications

The speaker presents a project visualizing international communications between New York and other cities.

Visualizing International Communications

• A live globe visualization showcases the communication network between New York and international cities.

• Demographic information is integrated into the visualization, revealing changing relationships over time.

Visualizing SMS Messages in Amsterdam

The speaker demonstrates a project visualizing SMS messages sent in the city of Amsterdam.

Visualizing SMS Messages

• Daily patterns of SMS message sending across different areas of Amsterdam are visualized.

• Special events like New Year's Eve show increased activity and celebrations.

Mechanical Turk and Collective Labor

The speaker discusses the concept of collective labor through Amazon's Mechanical Turk service.

Collective Labor and Mechanical Turk

• Amazon's Mechanical Turk service taps into human capabilities for tasks that are difficult for computers.

• The speaker created a drawing tool to collect contributions from people, highlighting the potential implications of such collective labor.

The Sheep Market Project

The speaker introduces "The Sheep Market" project, which involves collecting drawings of sheep from contributors.

"The Sheep Market" Project

• Thousands of drawings of sheep were collected through an online platform.

• These drawings were then made available for purchase as collections on a website called TheSheepMarket.com.

The Sheep Project

This section discusses the statistics and motivations behind a project involving drawing sheep.

Statistics of the Project

• Approximately 11 sheep were collected per hour, resulting in a working wage of 69 cents per hour.

• 662 rejected sheep did not meet the criteria and were discarded from the project.

Motivations for Drawing Sheep

• The amount of time spent drawing ranged from four seconds to 46 minutes, indicating different levels of dedication and motivation.

• Out of the 7,599 people who contributed to the project, only one person questioned why they were drawing sheep.

• The speaker chose sheep as a subject due to their historical significance in various aspects such as being raised from mechanically processed byproducts and being selectively bred for production traits.

• A reference to "Le Petit Prince" is made, where drawing a box instead of a scientific rendering of a sheep is seen as an interpretation and doing something different.

Mechanical Turk Projects

This section explores two projects that utilized Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform for creative purposes.

Ten Thousand Cents Project

• A hundred dollar bill was divided into 10,000 pieces and fed into the Mechanical Turk. People were asked to draw what they saw without any specific criteria.

• Contributions varied greatly, ranging from realistic renderings to stick figures or smiley faces.

• The resulting artwork was displayed on a website called TenThousandsCents.com, where visitors could browse through individual contributions and even trade real hundred-dollar bills for fake ones.

Bicycle Built for 2000 Project

• This project involved resynthesizing the song "Daisy Bell," which was created by Max Mathews and John Kelly at Bell Labs in the '60s.

• Individual notes and phonemes from the song were broken down and fed into the Mechanical Turk.

• Participants were asked to recreate the audio clips using their own voices, resulting in a collaborative and distributed music-making experiment.

• The website BicycleBuiltforTwoThousand.com allows visitors to listen to the collective output of these submissions.

Laser Scanner Visualization

This section discusses a project involving visualizing laser scanner data for creating a music video.

• The speaker worked at the Center for Embedded Network Sensing while attending UCLA, where he wrote software to visualize laser scanners.

• A director named James Frost saw this work and proposed shooting a music video without using any actual video footage.

• The resulting music video was made for Radiohead and involved open-sourcing the data and source code for others to create their own versions.

Timestamps are provided in English as requested.

Collaborative Music Video Project

The speaker discusses their interest in creating a collaborative project and how they teamed up with a music video director named Chris Milk. They put the idea on hold until they found the right person to build something for.

Creating a Memorial for Johnny Cash

• The speaker and Chris Milk decided to create a collaborative music video project as a memorial for Johnny Cash's final album.

• They collaborated with Ricardo Cabello, also known as Mr. doob, who created an amazing Flash drawing tool.

• Archival footage of Johnny Cash was cross-cut with individual frames drawn by participants at eight frames per second.

The Johnny Cash Project

The speaker introduces the Johnny Cash Project, where individuals can contribute by drawing frames that are woven into a dynamically changing music video.

Contributions and Impact

• People from around the world have contributed to the project, adding their personal touch to the music video.

• Participants express their emotional connection to Johnny Cash and how contributing to his memory is meaningful to them.

• Each frame drawn by fans adds a powerful feeling to the overall video.

Interactive Website - JohnnyCashProject.com

The speaker explains how the website JohnnyCashProject.com allows users to view and interact with the collaborative music video.

Features of the Website

• The website displays the video above and showcases all individual frames submitted by participants below.

• Users can roll over thumbnails to see who drew each frame and where they were located.

• Frames can be rated, sorted, and viewed based on different styles chosen by users.

"The Wilderness Downtown" - An Interactive Music Video

The speaker discusses another collaboration with Chris Milk called "The Wilderness Downtown," an interactive music video for Arcade Fire.

Personalized Experience

• The project asks users to enter the address of their childhood home, creating a music video specifically for them.

• The video incorporates Google Maps and Streetview images to provide a unique and personalized experience.

Interface as a Narrative Device

The speaker emphasizes the power of an interface as a narrative device and the importance of maintaining humanity in storytelling.

Collecting Relevant Data

• As more personally and socially relevant data is collected, there is an opportunity to tell amazing stories while preserving humanity.

This summary provides an overview of the main topics discussed in the transcript. It is important to watch the video or read the full transcript for a comprehensive understanding of the content.